Boro eyes rare triple mandate if UPPL wins Tamulpur

Guwahati: Come May 4, if UPPL president Pramod Boro manages to win from the Tamulpur constituency, he will stand out as a rare figure in the country’s political system — simultaneously straddling three tiers of governance as a Rajya Sabha MP, a Bodo Territorial Council member, and an MLA.Boro, a former president of All Bodo Students’ Union, is already an elected a member of the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC). He was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam on Thursday. Boro, along with two other BJP members, Terash Gowalla and Jogen Mohan, were elected unopposed to the three vacant seats in the Upper House last month.Speaking to TOI soon after taking oath, the 51-year-old Boro said he will resign from his position in the Upper House if he wins the Tamulpur seat, adding that “an MLA is constitutionally more empowered to address state-level and local issues, while an MP is more into national issues.”Boro said that he will also choose to resign as the MCLA (member of council legislative assembly of BTC). “The state-level and local issues are pressing, with long-pending community concerns unresolved. At the national stage we already have an MP. National politics is about major constitutional amendments, but at the state level more powers lie in addressing people’s everyday issues,” Boro said, supporting his preference of MLA over MP.

Earlier, Boro had singled out Dr. Jayanta Rongpi from Karbi Anglong as the latter was both, a member of Karbi Anglomg Autonomous council and an MP. However, Rogpi was not an MLA.“Rajya Sabha was not in our agenda — it came our way since we were part of the NDA. Our target is the assembly, so we contested. We will see if the Rajya Sabha seat can be retained,” Boro said.While UPPL partnered BJP during the 2021 polls, they were dumped by the latter, ahead of this year’s elections, in favour of BPF.“We have not yet decided on partnering the NDA. We contested the assembly elections alone and are under no compulsion. The state and the council will be our priority. At present, we are more comfortable standing independently. Looking at the state’s future, we will take a decision.” Boro said, before adding that he expected UPPL to win 12 out of the 18 seats, where the party had contested.